A company’s greatest asset is not its products or services but its employees. True success lies in empowering and engaging your workforce to do better and create a positive work culture where employees feel connected to the organization.
In this blog, you'll learn:
- Definition Of Employee Engagement Survey
- Employee Engagement Survey Benchmarks
- 10 C’s Of Employee Engagement
- How To Design An Effective Employee Engagement Survey
- Examples Of Questions Of Employee Engagement Surveys
- Why Choose Theysaid For Your Employee Engagement Surveys?
Definition Of Employee Engagement Survey
An employee engagement survey is a systematic tool designed to assess employees' emotional commitment and satisfaction with their organization. It gathers quantitative and qualitative data on various employee experience dimensions, from leadership effectiveness and communication to career development and work-life balance.
Employee Engagement Survey Benchmarks
Employee engagement survey benchmarks are standardized metrics that organizations use to measure employee engagement against industry standards, historical data, or other organizations of the same sector. The following are three types of employee engagement survey benchmarks:
Internal Benchmarks
Internal benchmarks are derived from your organization’s historical data. You compare your current survey results with the past year's results and track employee engagement over time. By comparing results, organizations can determine whether engagement is increasing, decreasing, or stagnating. They can also identify specific departments and teams where engagement dipped. Let's say your organization conducted a survey last year and found a 70% engagement rate. This year, the rate increased to 75%, indicating that the reward and recognition initiative has had a positive impact.
External Benchmarks
External benchmarks involve comparing your survey results with data from a third party or research institution. They help identify how well your organization performs compared to a broader pool of organizations. For example, suppose your average engagement rate is 70% and your company’s score is 65%. In that case, it’s time to implement new strategies related to leadership and management, workload balance, training, and growth opportunities to bridge the gap.
Industry Benchmarks
Industry benchmarks offer a targeted view of organizations' engagement with a business model like yours. This comparison provides more specific details by considering identical market conditions and operational activities. For example, if a retail company has an average engagement level of 75% and yours is 60%, that means your engagement is low, and you need to review your policies or initiatives.
The 10 C’s Of Employee Engagement
Following are the 10 C’s of employee engagement that help you create a productive workforce:
Connect
Connecting means creating strong interpersonal relationships between employees and the organization so they feel connected to their managers, management, and teammates.
Organizing monthly team-building outings or coffee chat strengthen employees’ relationships with the team.
Career
Career refers to the growth and development opportunities for employees in an organization. When employees are encouraged to advance their skills and supported in their career paths, they remain loyal to the organization. Companies should provide mentorship programs and training and hold annual meetings to discuss development plans.
Clarity
Clarity involves defining your company goals and what you are expecting from employees. Knowing what they have to achieve will help them better align their work strategies and deliver the best. Conduct regular one-on-one meetings to ensure everyone is on the same page.
Convey
Conveying involves effectively sharing the mission, vision, goals, and values with employees. Transparent communication helps employees feel valued. Microsoft held quarterly town hall meetings, where executives shared the organization's success and achieved goals and plans, ultimately increasing employee engagement.
Congratulate
Congratulations means recognizing and appreciating employees' contributions ( both big and small). Employees who are recognized for their good work stay engaged and positive and perform well. Recognition or reward could include employee of the month awards, peer-to-peer programs, or verbal appreciation in meetings.
Contribute
Contributing means ensuring employees know the impact of their work on the organization.
Employees feel motivated and engaged when they see tangible outcomes for their efforts.
The best practice is clearly communicating employee work results, sharing success stories, and showing how they contribute to overall productivity.
Control
Control means empowering employees to make decisions, manage tasks, and influence outcomes. This empowerment builds trust, encourages creativity and innovation, and allows employees to take charge of projects.
Collaborate
Collaboration means building a work culture where teams and cross-departments collaborate to achieve a common objective. When employees collaborate, they share ideas, brainstorm, solve problems, and innovate effectively.
Credibility
Credibility is about building a relationship of trust and reliability between the organization and its employees. When employees believe in your decisions and actions, they are more engaged.
Confidence
Confidence focuses on instilling self-assurance in employees. When they feel confident about their skills and are supported by the company, they are willing to take new initiatives and tackle challenges head-on.
How To Design An Effective Employee Engagement Survey
Designing an effective Employee Engagement Survey is a strategic process that involves several steps. Its goal is to uncover valuable insights that drive change.
Define Clear Objectives and Identify Your Employee Target Group
Defining your survey objectives and identifying the employee target group is the foundation of designing effective surveys. Clear objectives mean explaining what you are hoping to achieve in the survey. For example, Are you measuring employee motivation levels? Or testing out outcomes of a new employee policy you introduced. Survey goals will guide the survey design and purpose.
Determining your target group involves surveying your whole organization or a specific subgroup. Survey goals influence this decision and affect the quality and relevance of the survey. The best practice is to include tenure, employment type, and employment level criteria because each group needs a tailored question. For example, new hires need onboarding survey questions, while long-term employee surveys focus on motivation and commitment, salary and compensation, leadership and management, and more.
Read - How to Conduct Employee Engagement Surveys for Maximum Impact
Partner With An AI-Powered Survey Platform
Once you have clearly defined your goals and identified your target group, the next step is to partner with an AI-powered survey platform such as TheySaid to make your survey process dynamic and interactive. Traditional surveys are dull and often fail to capture in-depth insights. However, AI-powered survey tools use methodologies by automating content creation, enhancing engagement through conversation, and providing deep, actionable insights through advanced data analysis.
TheySaid, overcome traditional survey limitations by:
- Creating surveys that genuinely represent your goals and objectives: All you have to do is enter the URL, and AI will automatically learn about your organization and craft questions tailored to your business
- Instead of static questions, AI engages with employees in real-time conversations to gather why behind their responses
- Once the survey is complete, the AI analyzes the data, summarizing trends, detecting action items, and suggesting follow-ups.
Pilot Test the Survey
A pilot test helps identify issues with the survey length, questions, or technical glitches. Ask a group of employees to fill out a survey before the full roll-out. Ensure the survey platform is integrated with various communication channels such as email, Slack, and in-app notifications to reach the right audience.
Communicate the Purpose and Process
Inform employees why the survey is being conducted and what changes their feedback can make. Transparent communication is key to engaged and motivated employees. Send an email to employees before the survey that should define the objectives of the research or conduct a meeting to explain the purpose of the survey and to address concerns and queries.
Analyze and Act on the Results
The true value lies in analyzing the data, identifying trends and areas of improvement, and then implementing action plans based on that. For example, after conducting a survey, a financial firm found out that 60% of employees feel there are no growth opportunities for them. In response, the company introduced a mentorship program and regular training sessions as a follow-up plan.
Examples Questions of Employee Engagement Surveys
Below are some example questions that can be used to get actionable insights from employees:
Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion
- How comfortable are you working with colleagues from a different background?
- Do you think our company value cultural diversity?
- On a scale of 1 to 5, how well the company promote an inclusive environment?
Engagement and Motivation
- How motivated do you feel by your current work?
- How often do you feel excited about coming to work?
Work-Life Balance
- How often do you bring work home with you?
- Do you feel comfortable taking breaks during the workday?
Overall Job Satisfaction
- How likely are you to stay with us for the next 2 years?
- To what extent does your job meet your expectations
Feedback and Continuous Improvement
- Do you receive specific and actionable feedback from your manager?
- How well does the organization encourage employees to share their opinions?
Read - 50+ Employee Engagement Survey Questions to Strengthen Your Team
Why Choose TheySaid for Your Employee Engagement Surveys?
TheySaid is the world’s first conversational survey platform that actually listens. It is designed for modern organizations that recognize the importance of deep, actionable insights. TheySaid’s AI-driven approach ensures that:
- Your survey setup is effortless and customized.
- Engagement is captured through interactive, conversational methods.
- Interviews at scale provide rich, qualitative insights.
- The analysis is automated, transforming raw data into clear, actionable strategies.
For industries ranging from software and digital agencies to education and healthcare, TheySaid offers a revolutionary way to understand and improve employee engagement.
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FAQs
What is an employee engagement survey?
It's a tool to measure how connected and satisfied employees are with their company.
Why should we use employee engagement surveys?
They help identify what’s working and what needs improvement to boost morale and productivity.
What benchmarks are used in these surveys?
Compare results using internal data, external research, and industry standards.
How do I design a good employee engagement survey?
Set clear goals, target the right group, and ask focused, simple questions.
Why choose an AI-powered tool like TheySaid?
AI makes surveys more engaging and provides fast, deep insights to drive real change.
